Seven Years
by DevianX
Summary: 7 years was plenty of time for Ganon to mess things up in Hyrule. But what happened during the 7 years Link's spirit was sealed in the temple of light? My second fanfic. OC-centric.
1. Chapter 1

Happy birthday to me.

Midnight, May 9th. Technically, it's my birthday. Funny, I never would've expected to spend my 17th birthday running for my life. At least Sylvia was with me. That was all I had hoped for. And I got it, I suppose. But this isn't how I imagined it.

My name is Demetrius. I am a zora warrior. But what good is a warrior who can't even protect his love? Let alone his kingdom. It was 3 years ago. 3 years, me and my fellow zora have suffered. 3 years since Ganondorf took control of Hyrule. The bastard drove this world right into the ground in just 3 short years.

Allow me to count the disasters Ganon's reign has brought. The deku scrubs? Extinct. Their reanimated corpses form the backbone of Ganon's evil army. New species, dangerous new creatures, have started popping up all over the place. The deku babas Have grown in size and aggression. Wolfoes are mutating and moving to places you never would've expected them before. Castle town was overthrown. It was the first thing Ganon did. The only residents left are ganon and his undead army.

And to top it all off, the prejudice. The humans are convinced that it was the goron's and zora's religious heresy that caused Ganon to acquire that damn triforce. I know it's not true. It seems like I'm the only one who knows the truth. I was there in castle town when it happened. That kid in green went up to the temple of time, and never came out. Then Ganon waltzed right in and took the triforce. It's HIS fault that man came into power, not ours! It's all the damn forest kid's fault! But they'll never realise! They're already blinded by religion and anger. They've started raiding our offshore villages. Stealing and murdering whatever they can. They think they're giving us what we "deserve"! They think they're correcting a mistake of the goddesses!

And that's why I fight. I joined the zora army so that I could protect my family and beloved, Sylvia. But after only the first month of my combat training, my entire blood family was murdered by the raiders. Sylvia is all I have left, and I plan not to make the same mistake twice. I trained to protect at one point, but now, I train for vengeance. If that "hero" in green ever shows his face again, I want to be able to take him on. I will personally end his life. And then, I'll move onto Ganon himself! I'm going to kill Ganondorf, even if it takes my entire lifetime!

Now here I am, on my 17th birthday, huddling under the wreckage of a destroyed building, Sylvia in my arms, my dagger in it's sheath at my waist. I would probably take on one or two of those humans, but their sheer numbers would leave me dead before I could slit even one of their throats. All I could do was run, and I hated myself for it, but Sylvia and I were still alive. And that's all that mattered to me right now.

The smell of smoke and sounds of screaming were everywhere around us. They weren't interested in pillaging this time. They came to kill and maim, and they were doing a damn good job at it. Corpses, mostly zora, some human, littered the ground. Houses burned and crumbled. Mothers screamed as their children were snatched out of their arms and carried away by horse riders. Sylvia and I were stashed away behind a raid-old pile of rubble. Out of sight, but not out of reach. We would be in sight soon, though, both of us knew that. I darted from pile to pile, remaining out of sight and growing further and further out of reach. Sylvia wasn't nearly as fast as I was, but she managed to lay low and keep up with me. Soon, we would be home free. Soon, we could flee to safety. But, wait, where will we be safe? Kakariko is a human village. If we went to the gorons on Death Mountain, we would still be in the danger zone. Was anywhere truly safe anymore? Were all possible havens for us zora destroyed crushed under Ganon's fist?

No! I couldn't think like that. Not right now. Right now, I had to escape. Then I could think of somewhere Sylvia and I could go. Go and be safe. Go and be happy. Pile after pile, would the remains of the village ever end? I knew this village like the back of my fin, but my mind was too clouded with other thoughts to think straight. Left! Right! Duck! Wait, and let Sylvia catch up. We were almost there. Soon, we would just have to run. Almost there. And then, we would find sanctuary. But what about the rest of the zoras? Would Sylvia and I end up Adam and Eve? Or will others manage to escape with their lives? Best not to think about it yet. As I said, just focus on moving forward.

Finally, we made it. The fence we had helped construct in a feeble attempt to keep the humans out. They had no problem breaking it down. Now, I had to climb it. I would have little problem with it, but I was worried for Sylvia. She was always somewhat frail, and even more after the raids began. I leaped up and found my footholds, before slowly making my way up. Once I reached the top, I turned around and let down my arm for Sylvia to grab. I pulled with all my might to try and get her up. Soon, we were both sitting on top of the fence. Looking down, we saw grass. Something we were, for a while, afraid of, as it marked human territory. We at one point only felt safe on the sand of the zora beaches. We exchanged looks, and without words, we both jumped down at the same time. I regained my bearings, but before I could think, the worst case scenario suddenly became reality.

A human war party was making it's way around the perimeter of the fence. Looking to get some of the action in the raid, obviously. Sylvia and I took off the opposite direction, but just then, I heard cries from behind me and the sound of horses galloping. They had spotted us! I grabbed Sylvia's arm again and darted even faster around the fence. The sound of galloping was slowly getting louder, and my legs were getting tired. I couldn't run for much longer. I was just about to break away from the perimeter of the village, before another war party came into view around the corner! They had expected us, and were waiting for us with lances and swords raised. Nowhere left to run! We came to a sudden halt, Sylvia let out a gasp. The crowd behind us stopped and raised their weapons. This is it, I thought. End of the road. Sylvia and I were as good as dead. My promise to her that we would be safe, broken. We were going to die here, at this very spot. The burly man leading the party in front of us eyed us carefully, appraising our fighting ability, and judging if whether or not he could kill us. "Well, well. Two traitors to the goddesses have managed to escape." His group chuckled. I clenched a fist around my dagger's handle. I was tempted to go right at him, and take the head off of this one war party.

"We WERE finished with this raid you know... But since you were nice enough to come back after you ran, I think we can give you the gift of death, can't we boys?" Both groups let out sounds of agreement. Sylvia huddled closer to me, as if she thought she'd be safer. "So it's settled. Let's have at em', men!" Suddenly, they were upon us. This was a hopeless fight. Sylvia ducked down and I shielded her with my own body, while try to make at least one mark on one of the raiders. Swords slashed and spears stabbed. The pain was intense. I could hardly tell if the screaming I was hearing was my own, Sylvia's, or one of the warmonger's. The pain was too intense. I was starting to black out. I was about to welcome death, at least I would be able to see my family again. But then, I suddenly felt something like I had never felt before. It was funny, I had already been cut multiple times, but I felt more powerful then ever. I let my rage flow. My anger at Ganondorf, my anger at the humans, my anger at the so-called "hero", and my anger at the world. I just let everything happen.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The brightest flash of light I had ever seen or felt. Yes, I felt this light. It was coming from me, and I FELT light. For a split second, everything stopped, and then, emptiness...

A/N: Okay, WOW. One chapter in, and I'm already loving writing like this. This is probably the longest piece of writing I've ever written so far. An another note, I feel kind of evil for this cliffhanger. But, I really enjoyed writing this, and I can't wait to get started on chapter 2. Until then, stick around!


	2. Chapter 2

Whiteness. Just whiteness. It was all I saw for quite a while. I had no way of knowing how long it really was, but it felt like an eternity. My head was spinning, I was barely conscious. I could only make out basic thoughts, the same ones running through my head the moment I was attacked by those humans. "This is it, I'm going to die." "Bastard! I'll kill you!" "The pain, it's unbearable...". The whiteness seemed to go on forever. I thought for sure I was dead. I was about to give up hope of ever waking up and embrace this oblivion, before I finally started coming to.

My vision was blurry, but I saw blue. Lots of blue, just about everything was blue. As I regained feeling in my body, I realised that I was sprawled out on the floor, if it could so be called. What I was standing on looked a lot like unsettled water, shimmering outward in waves. It looked like I was standing in the center of the top of a large pillar. Around me were six pedestals of various colours, yellow, green, red, blue, orange, and purple. At my feet was Sylvia, still unconscious. The only light was coming down in shafts from the ceiling. Beyond those shafts, was nothing. Just darkness.

I bent down and shook Sylvia awake. She stood up rather reluctantly and looked around. I could tell she was just as confused as I was. "Is this heaven?" She asked. As if I would know. Before I could respond, there came another voice. Female, but not Sylvia's. "No, this isn't heaven, and you're not dead." From out of the darkness in front of me, emerged a feminine figure. She was draped in blue robes, gilded gold at the edges. Her face was calm and gentle, and incredibly familiar. And then I realised, she looked almost identical to Sylvia, except she wasn't a zora.

No, wait. Her face and body might've been just like Sylvia's, only human, but her feet weren't toughing the ground, and she was slightly opaque. She was floating slowly toward us, and once she was directly in front of us, spoke again. "Welcome to the temple of light, young ones. The two of you met with quite the unfortunate fate, didn't you?" Temple of light, what? Where the hell is the temple of light? It's nothing I had ever heard of. No Zoran mythology text tells anything of a temple of light. "I'm sure you are both very confused. Allow me to explain. This is the Temple of light, the bridge connecting the sacred realm to your world. We brought you here because we have something to tell you both." I couldn't believe any of what was going on. The bridge to the sacred realm? No way. I have to be dreaming. "I don't believe I have introduced myself yet. I am Nayru, goddess of wisdom." "What?" Sylvia and I shouted in unison. The goddess of wisdom herself?

"Din, Farore, and I brought you here just was you would have been killed by the raiders. That light you felt was us, rescuing you." My entire body shook. The goddesses saved us? Why? "But, why? I thought the goddesses didn't interfere with the mortal world?" Sylvia was just as shocked as I was, I could tell. "We didn't, we first had our doubts regarding that rule when Ganon broke in and stole the triforce. But the decision to start making exceptions was finalised when the Deku shrubs went exinct. We have tried many times to dethrone Ganon, but his power is too great, now that we no longer have the triforce pieces. All we can do is wait." Wait? The goddesses themselves can't do anything but _wait_? "Fear not, however, for all hope is not lost. The hero of time's spirit is being kept here. When the time is right, he may reawaken and bring the world back to its former glory." Hero of time? They couldn't possibly mean that kid in green, could they? "In the meantime, there is the business to attend to of what your purpose here is." Nayru turned her back to us and hung her head.

"The world has gone mad. As you know, humans have been murdering your people and razing your villages. You strongly desire to stop them, especially you, Demetrius. We have been waiting for a fine zora warrior like yourself to rise from your people. We have been watching this horrible war since the beginning, and the two of you were the first to escape with your lives, even if momentarily." The anger I felt towards those humans rose again, I couldn't help but clench a fist. "That was the final straw. We knew that you would be the one." Sylvia and I exchanged looks of disbelief. "Yes. You, Demetrius! You will be the one to finally free the Zora people from the human's oppression!"

A/N: OH GOD HIATUS ON MY SECOND FIC WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME

*ahem* Now that exam week has come and gone, and I'm extraordinarily behind in my writing, I'm gana have to get right back at it. What could possibly be in store for Demetrius next? Stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3

I couldn't quite tell what was going on for the next few seconds. I was too shocked by that revelation. Me? Liberate the entire zora race? Did the goddess herself really believe that I, of all people, could take on a task this great? A single human war party almost killed me. How could I possibly drive the humans out of our domain? I regained my senses for the second time since I arrived in this strange place, I looked over at Sylvia. She looked just as shocked as I did. "Have you gotten over the shock?" Nayru asked. "I understand you may be discouraged, but we know you can do it. We are all-knowing, after all." Sylvia and I both shook ourselves out of shock. "Goddess, you cannot be serious. Sylvia and I couldn't even protect ourselves from one small group of humans. Do you really expect us to liberate the entire zora race?"

"We anticipated you would question our prediction, but fear not, there is a way the two of you may set the zora people free." "I'll do anything to get revenge on those damn humans, what do we have to do?" The goddess stepped back and sighed. "You will not be able to stop the humans on your own, that is for certain. You must enlist the help of the goron tribe. The combined force of goron and zora will surely be enough to break the power the humans have over you." The gorons? Our two races hadn't communicated since Ganon took over, I thought. They're home is on the other side of kakariko, a human village. How could we possibly reach them on top of Death Mountain. "I am aware that the goron civilisation lies on the opposite side of kakariko village to you. How you will reach them and recruit them to your cause will be up to you. All we can do is deliver this message to you and wish you good luck." Luck? The goddesses themselves can only wish me luck? Times are darker than I thought...

"I will be sending you back to the real world now, unless you have any questions." I had a million questions, but I just couldn't find the words. "Very well. I'll see you back now." Nayru closed her eyes, and a beam of light fell down on Sylvia and I. Soon, we were lifted off our feat by some unseen force, and it was dragging us straight up. After that, all was white once again. When I came to for the second time, I realised I was still in the center of that shaft of light that carried me out of that strange realm. The light slowly faded, and Sylvia and I were plant back in the real world. Did the human war party think we were dead? Were they killed in the flash of light I felt when they attacked? Or did they know we had escaped? And by an act of the goddesses at that?

I looked over at Sylvia, she looked at me. We both knew what we would have to do next. Without a single word from either of us, we started on our way to kakariko, the home of the humans who had tormented us for so long.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't much of a journey, from the beach to kakariko. Luckily for us, it was relatively late into the night and most of the people were asleep. If we didn't take this opportunity, we'd have to wait until the next day. The village steps were all so familiar, they had once been the gateway to a welcome community of friends, human and goron. But now, I knew that the humans living here would kill me on sight. When we reached the top of the steps, we noticed the city was just about completely empty, except for the guards watching the gate to the death mountain trail, One male, and one female.

Human armor was odd. The helmet they were wearing completely obscured their face. How did they tell each other apart? The female variant was the same problem. But that wierd helmet gave me an idea. Sylvia and I traced the perimeter of the village until we were on the opposite side of the gate from the village entrance. We hid on top of a building and waited. And just as I had hoped, not too long after did 2 more guards, dressed the same way, began making their way from the village steps to the gate. "You're being relieved. You can head home now." The taller of the 2 guards said. "Thank god. I can't wait to get some sleep." The female guard said with a yawn. The two groups of two swapped positions, and together, the two relieved guards began making their way home.

Sylvia and I retraced the village perimeter and tracked them out of the village. Once they were adequately far from the village gates, Sylvia and I ambushed them. They had left their weapons at the gate, so they weren't much of a threat, but they managed to get one or two punches in on both of us. Once they were unconscious, we stripped them of their armor, and Sylvia and I dressed ourselves in it. With the helmet obscuring our faces, we hoped the guards now watching the gate would let us pass.

We made our way back up the village steps for the second time tonight. "Halt!" One of the guards shouted. They both readied themselves, spears outstretched. "Relax, it's just us again." I told them. "What? What are you doing back here?" He didn't seem to suspect much. That was good. Now I just had to think of something to tell them that would make them let us past. "We were chasing some gorons from the gate back up the trail, and we think we dropped our canteens somewhere up there. Could you let us look for them?" Sylvia broke my train of thought. Clever girl, I thought. That's why I fell in love with her.

The guards exchanged looks, before opening the gate for us. "Don't be too long up there." They said. Sylvia and I nervously passed them and started our way up the mountain. Once we were out of earshot of the village, we removed the awkward human armor and continued walking. "You know they're going to come up here with another war party when we don't come back, right?" Sylvia asked me. "We just have to form an army of our own before that happens." But could we? Could we convince the gorons to mount an attack with us before the guards find out what we did to their allies?

It was quite a walk, all the way to the top of death mountain. Twice did we have to stop and rest before continuing our journey. But soon enough, we reached the gates of the goron city. We made our way into the cavern, and noticed the gorons didn't have a sentry on duty. Everyone was asleep in their own cave. That was fine. As long as the goron leader, Darunia, was awake. Goron City was a mazelike place, it took us a while to find our way to the lowest level of the cave, but we managed to locate Darunia's chamber. However, Darunia had his own private sentry on duty at the time.

"Halt!" He said, blocking the path to Darunia's chamber. "I am Demetrius of the zora race, and this is Sylvia, we wish to speak to Darunia immediately." The goron sentry retreated into Darunia's chamber himself, and within a few seconds, re-emerged. Darunia does not wish to be spoken to right now. "What? But this is important, we don't have much time! He's got to understand!" I'm sorry, but Darunia doesn't want to-"

"Important, you say?" A deep voice echoed through my ears. Darunia emerged from his chamber and pushed his sentry aside. "What kind of news is important enough for a zora to have to share with the goron leader so late at night?" Darunia was a large man, his voice loud and proud. "Excuse me, Darunia, but we have some news regarding our race's current situation to discuss with you." Darunia turned away and scratched his chin briefly." Come in, come in." He guided us into his chamber, while the sentry returned to his post outside.

"Sit." He told us. There were multiple brown rugs on the floor, sewn with intricate goron designs. Sylvia and I sat down next to each other. "This had better be important." He said. "I assure you, it is." I replied. "As you know, our two races have been receiving the blunt of human prejudice ever since Ganon took control." Darunia chuckled, then regained his composure. "Don't remind me. We've been getting a break lately." He said. "I, for one, believe this madness has gone on long enough. That is why I sit before you now. If you are prepared to fight with us, I wish to offer you my strength, as well as that of the remaining zoras. I believe our combined forces could be enough to drive the humans out of our territory, and intimidate them into ceasing their senseless fighting."

Darunia let out a long sigh. "You realise, boy, the seriousness of this proposal, correct?" "I do. Our king has been murdered, and I wish to end this war before the entire zora race is next." Another sigh came from Darunia's mouth. For a minute, there was nothing but silence, but I could tell Darunia was thinking. "This is not the kind of decision to be made in an instant. Allow me to sleep on it. Until then, I can arrange for you a room to stay the night here in Goron City." The three of us stood back up. "That would be great." I said. Darunia clapped his hands together. "Isaac! Come out here!" From a room branching from Darunia's emerged another goron, probably Darunia's advisor. "Yes, my lord?" "These two are Demetrius and Sylvia. They will be staying the night here. Arrange them a room, bedding, and food at once." Isaac walked over to us and guided us out. "Right this way, please" He said, motioning to follow him.

Our rooms was on the third level. The room was warm, and the food was nice. I had forgotten just how long it had been since I last ate a full meal. I had been exhausted since we first came back to this world from the Temple of Light, but only now, as I was finally relaxing for the first time all day, did I notice. I crawled into the goron bed, and let sleep come, knowing tomorrow, I would have Darunia's answer.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a night of restless sleep for me. I kept waking up expecting to hear that we were under attack. Thankfully, that didn't happen. We had survived the night, but would we survive the day? I prayed the goron messenger survived the trip through kakariko, he may be our only chance of getting the message to zora's domain. But even if he did make it, would the remaining zoras be prepared to fight? Or would they be too intimidated by the humans past actions? This war was starting to look more and more one-sided...

The morning consisted of a rude awakening from Darunia, followed by breakfast in the council room. He had insisted that we ate while we talked, as he had important news for us. He had failed to specify, however, whether the news was good or bad. We entered the council room, and we greeted by multiple goron faces, advisors, probably, as well as one zora, carrying a bag full of scrolls. A messenger, maybe? We sat down and began eating, and Darunia was the first to break the silence. "How did the two of you sleep last night?" He asked, between mouthfuls of stone. "Okay, I suppose" I replied. I looked down at my plate. There was a black, leafy plant of some kind, along with a few stones and a purple fruit. None of it looked very appetizing, but I tried to stomach the fruit. "That's good, because Lent here has some news for us. Lent, so he really was a messenger. It was uplifting just to know that the message made it to the domain.

"Thank you, Darunia." He said as he stood up to speak to the entire room. "I would like to start by assuring the other two zora guests that, yes, your message made it safely to zora's domain. Secondly, I come baring the remaining zora's response to your proposal for an attack." He reached into his bag and produced a note. "Sylvia and Demetrius, I am Seth, of the remaining zoran people. We have received your proposal to finally strike back against the humans of kakariko village, and I, personally, cannot be more pleased that you have enlisted the goron's help. However, as much as I would love to bring this war to them, my fellow people are not as sure. While there are a handful of prime zoran warriors ready to strike back, there are many others who are either unsure or too weak from the constant raid to fight. We have begun treating the sick and injured in hopes of raising a big enough army, but we fear we will not have enough soldiers to provide a large assistance. We understand the urgency of this attack, as the human's could catch on and rush you up on death mountain ay minute, and even if I will march alone, we will provide what we can." He deposited the note back into his bag and sat back down. A moment of silence was once again broken by Darunai's confident voice.

"Well, that sounds like good news, and bad news. But, the decision lies with you, Demetrius. Do you still wish to continue with this attack?" The answer was obvious, but I appreciated Darunia's asking. "Of course. They may not be able to provide much, but I believe we can mount an attack with what we have here. Isaac, take a note." Isaac drew a parchment and pen. "Seth, we have received your reply, and we still wish to continue with our plans to attack. Prepare what soldiers you can to fight, and begin marching at midnight. No matter how little soldiers you may have, we require every man we can get. I hope to see you on the battlefield. Demetrius." Isaac finished scribbling the note, and passed it on to Lent, who exited the room without a word and began his trek back to zora's domain. "Midnight, huh boy? If you plan to attack so late at night you two should get some more rest. Go back to bed, and we'll wake you in a few hours."

"Thank you, Darunia." I said, getting up from my seat. Sylvia and I returned to our room for a few more hours of sleep. We would surely need it if we wanted to be at peak fighting condition. The next few hours were much more restful than the previous night. I dreamt of a world following our attack, of peace for the zora and goron people, a world where we would no longer have to suffer for our race. And in just a few short hours, that world could become real.

"Demetrius, Sylvia, wake up!" My eyes drifted open to the sight of Isaac entering the room. "it's 4 o'clock. Darunia wishes to see you, if you would come with me." The both of us got up and stretched our bodies as far as they'd go. I felt much more rested than that morning. We followed Isaac into a small room, where Darunia was waiting for us. "Ah, good. You're here. Demetrius, we've assembled the goron army, and they wish to hear from the one who would be leading them." "What I would've expected you to be leading your own army!" Darunia let out a chuckle. "Nonsense. You came to us with the battle plan and enlisted us to your cause, you should be the one to lead us into battle. Go, and address your army."

I walked through a narrow door and into a large room. I was on a raised platform, in front of possibly a hundred goron warriors. I stepped up to them and cleared my throat, when they all fell perfectly silent. "Goron warriors!" I yelled into the crowd for all to hear. "For years, Ganon has been controlling the country. For years, disaster has befallen for entire land of Hyrule. For years, we have been the subject of discrimination from the humans. They believe our religious differences are what caused Ganon to come into power. They have raided our villages, stolen our children, and murdered our friends and family in cold blood. I say, no more! Tonight, we plan to launch a full-scale attack on kakariko village, and drive them out of our territory!" Cheer and yells rose from the entire crowd. "We will not be fighting alone in this battle. The remaining zoras of the zora's domain will be joining us in this fight. If enough zoran soldiers are present, victory will be all but assured!" More cheers, and even more yells. "I lost my family to those humans, as well as many other zoran people. They have shattered our lives and killed our king, but we cannot take back what is ours alone. So, will you help take back our world?" The cheers were nearly deafening. "Standing before you now, I have never been more grateful in my life. We have approximately 8 hours before we begin marching, and I expect all of you to spend every second of it preparing for the battle!" One last round of cheers, and they all piled out of the room. I turned around and exited the stage, and reunited with Darunia, Isaac, and Sylvia. "That was inspiring, boy." Darunia said happily. "8 hours. In 8 hours, the fate of both our races will be decided." Sylvia grabbed me and hugged me tight. "That was amazing, Demetrius." She whispered into my ear. Things were starting to look up for the goron and zora races. Maybe we could win this war.


	6. Chapter 6

We began marching just before midnight. It was nearly pitch dark. I knew this would be a death or glory mission for all of us. We were going to take back our homeland, or die trying. It took us about an hour to march all the way down the mountain. As soon as we reached Kakariko, our troops spread out so that the entire perimeter of the town was surrounded. Nowhere for the humans to escape. Not a soul was out. Every last resident was in their home, sleeping, cooking, and who knows what else. This wouldn't be a stealth mission like I was used to. We were going to get in there and kill every human in sight. The circumstances were in our favor. Under the shroud of night and with the element of surprise, it would be short, and very bloody. But we will emerge victorious.

"Are you ready, Demitri?" Darunia whispered. I steadied my breathing. I was anxious, both to get away and to start fighting. "Yes. Let's do this." Darunia grunted with acceptance, and yelled in his loudest voice, "CHARGE!"

In an instant, the entire combined force of goron and zora was upon the village. I ran as fast and my finned feat could take me, and kicked down the door of the first house I came across. There was but a single resident, luckily for me, and he was in his bed, woken up by Darunia's cry. I dashed at him and stabbed him, right through the heart, and he went down silently. I dashed back out the door to see the gorons ahead of me, their numbers spread out as they flocked into buildings. Again, I ran and rejoined the fray outside, battling off human guards. Dodge left, duck, slash upward, and another human fell dead in front of me. I could hear his last breath escape his lungs as he died. No time to glory, There were 3 guards upon a single goron to my right. I jumped onto one of their backs and stabbed him through the neck. I jumped off, and he fell forward. The goron pushed the other two guards off him, and while they were vulnerable on the ground, we both took one and murdered them. The two of us exchanged glances, and then went on our way. No time for thanks, either, I figure.

The battle was going smoothly in our favor. Of all the corpses I saw, very few were of goron or zora. Together with the gorons, I cleared 5 buildings. I felt unstoppable. 2 more human gurads stood before me. I thought I could take them. I managed to kill one of them, but the other caught in the shoulder with his spear, and tripped me while I was staggering. I was on the ground defenceless, dead in the water. Until I saw a silhouette appear behind the guard. It was of a goron, but very large, even for a goron. He lifted the guard right up and smashed him into the dirt. I looked up, and Darunia was standing over the dead human. He pulled me back up and looked at my shoulder, bleeding heavily. "You should fall back. That wound looks pretty deep." I managed to stammer out "Yeah" between surges of pain. I turned around and ran as fast as I could with such a wound back to the city gate. There, I saw Sylvia, treating the wounded along with goron women. She looked up from a goron soldier's wounded arm, bandaged in quickly, and came over to me. "Oh my, that's deep. How did that happen?" She was already preparing gauze and bandages for me while she spoke. "I took a spear right to the shoulder. Don't you dare tell me I can't fight anymore." Sylvia had a cast prepared. "That's not your weapon arm, you'll be fine, just hold still for a second and try not to move it too much when you get back in there." She bandaged my wound swiftly and sat me down on the ground. She produced a bottle of red potion from her sack and gave it to me. "Drink this and you'll feel brand new." I downed the bottle in 3 gulps. She was right, I felt like I could take on the world. Even Ganon himself. I got up and stretched a moment. I was about to head back into the fray, when a goron entered and spoke. "Oh good, Demetrius, you're here. I have grave news." I felt my stomach drop at least a mile in my gut. "Grave news? What is it, speak up!" The young goron fell to his knees from exhaustion. "It's the humans, sir. They had a legion bigger than ours waiting for us. They've broken through our main force and our headed this way, and last I was of him, Darunia was wounded."

Oh gods, no. The humans were expecting us this entire time? This can't be happening! I sprinted through the gate and onto the grass, blood stained from the fighting. I noticed a very large amount of goron corpses this time. It was true, the humans had an army just was we did. The fight finally came into view. It was awful. The humans outnumbered us at least 2 to 1 now, and that number was rising. I saw Darunia, lying on the ground injured. I tried to help him up, but he was too heavy. As soon as I gave up, his eyes opened and he pulled himself up. "This is quite the disaster, isn't it?" he asked. "Darunia, what happened, how could the tides turn so abruptly?" He coughed. "We had just reached the main gate. Victory was in sight. Then this army shows up out of nowhere, and pushes us all the way back here. Demetrius, things are looking very grim." I hauled Darunia up. "Darunia, you should head to the infirmary. You can't fight like that." Darunia had a large scar along his belly, as well as smaller cuts and bruises all along his arms, legs, and face. "Hah! These scratches aren't going to keep me off the battlefield. Come on, we've got a war to win." "But sir, what about our numbers?" Darunia laughed. "I've faced worse odds and won before. I am kings of the gorons after all." He and I dashed back into the fray for the last time. Death or glory, I reminded myself. Slash left, dodge right, duck, slash right. Everything seemed to happen on its own. I was almost entirely surrounded by humans, exclude Darunia and the few remaining gorons, but we were winning.

Time after time, I slashed, dodged, slashed, and dodged. Humans fell all around me. Some were cut, some were beaten, and some were crushed by their fallen brother's corpses. We fought valiantly until the bitter end. But something else was causing the humans to fall. It seemed like someone else was trying to make their way into the very center of the battle. I kept on fighting, and eventually that person came into view. It was Sylvia, wielding a dagger identical to mine, only mirrored. "Sylvia, what are you doing here? You should be tending the sick!" "Everyone was either dead or healed, Demetrius, and I couldn't let you fight a battle this decisive alone. Let's win back our land together!" We both nodded, and resumed fighting stronger than ever, together.

The two of us fought like never before ducking and swaying about each other like dancers. Left and right we slashed, working together as methodically as clockwork. The human army was thinning, and eventually, they fell back. We stopped and looked around. All around us were corpses, all human, Darunia, looking only slightly more wounded than before, and the retreating humans, fleeing down the village steps. We won! We fought the odds and won! I sheathed my dagger, and Sylvia grabbed me and pulled me close. She pressed her face to mine, and we shared a kiss more passionate than the day we met. The embrace lasted for quite a few seconds, and when we stopped, I looked down. The corpses each told a story of defeat, but there was one I was interested in. It had a burly beard, stained red, and a large gut. It took me a second to realise that this was the corpse of the man who led the war party which almost killed Sylvia and I when we escaped. Despite the gore, I couldn't help but smile at his death. He got what was coming to him. I began to feel lightheaded, and I was engulfed by the same light that took me at the moment we almost died.

I wasn't lying on the ground this time, but was still standing triumphant, Sylvia at my side. The multi-colored pedestals, the shafts of light, and the odd floor were all as familiar as the warmonger who almost ended my life. Nayru once again appeared before us, and spoke in her otherworldly voice, "Looks like you've done it." I wanted to scream at her. We didn't just "do it", we defeated an entire human army! We did more than just "do it"! "I must thank you on behalf of myself, and the 2 other goddesses, Din and Farore. You have done a great service to us, as well as your races."

She bowed her head slightly. The goddess, bowing to us? I should be bowing. But i couldn't get myself to move, I could just stare in awe. "You have liberated the goron and zora people. And now, you wish you could take the fight to Ganon, do you not?" I coulnd't speak, all I could do was nod my head, in unison with Sylvia, still holding onto me. "This is understandable, but you mustn't get hasty. Ganon is much too powerful . He could eliminate your entire army all by himself. But fear not, for all hope is not lost. The hero of time sleeps, in this very temple, waiting for the day he becomes mature enough to defeat Ganon. When that day comes, I assure you, the light at the end of the tunnel will come into view. But for now, return to your mortal world, and revel in the glory. I'm sure it's what the gorons would want you to do." The world turned white, and I felt as though i was being transported again, amidst the witeness, I heard Nayru's voice again. "3 years. 3 years more, and the day of freedom will come for the entire land." I felt my feet touch ground, and instantly be swept back off it by the remaining gorons. "All hail Demetrius! Liberator of the gorons!"

Author's note: Uh-oh, looks like I just up and died for 2 months. I hope this 3-page colossus makes up for it!


End file.
